


Land and Sea

by fantasyfilled



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 07:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6319891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantasyfilled/pseuds/fantasyfilled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice Kirkland was convinced she was going to die at sea, drowning after a shipwreck. Imagine her surprise when she is saved by a French mermaid with wandering hands...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Alice had been treading water for hours and was exhausted. Her limbs ached, Her lips were chapped, her head was killing her, and her stomach churned from the seawater she kept inadvertently swallowing. The ocean was on all sides of her, with no land in sight. She had long since shed her heavy dress and was left in the chemise.

The past few minutes, she had been slipping deeper into the water and desperately raising up again. She knew she wouldn't last much longer. Alice was sure there would be tears in her eyes if she weren’t so dehydrated, not that she would ever admit it. After a few moments and looked down and noticed a dark shape circling her under the water.

“B-bloody hell!” She spluttered out.

Perfect, she wasn’t going to drown but was about to be ripped apart by what she could only assume was a shark. She tried to swim away but she only had the strength to keep herself afloat.

_Well, at least death by shark would be faster_ , she thought bitterly, unaware of the bright eyes watching her from below.

Marianne looked above her curiously. Was that a human? The legs were a dead giveaway, but it wasn't every day that Marianne saw a human woman in the water. How odd! It was only ever men, shipwrecked and without aid, and they eventually drowned and made a lovely meal. But this one... This one was different.

This was a woman! Marianne had thought that they usually wore more clothing than the thin white thing she was wearing. Maybe her clothes were at the bottom of the ocean? She'd have to fetch them. She bet they would look really interesting on her, like a fancy lady from the high courts!

She circled the human, eyeing her up. Now that she thought about it, she'd never actually known what a human woman looked like. They looked very similar to her... She circled around halfway, then came up behind the drowning woman, and grabbed her breasts. Huh. They were a lot softer than hers.

Meanwhile, as the dark shape disappeared behind her, she could only assume it was ready to attack. Alice shut her eyes as the beast came closer to the surface of the water, prepared to feel sharp teeth rip into her, but it never came. Instead, she felt hands from behind her grab her breasts. Her eyes widened and she gasped and jerked away from the touch.

She forgot to focus on swimming and slipped beneath the water but quickly struggled to lift her head back in the air. Looking around frantically but not seeing anything, her heart pounded in her chest.

"Wh-what the h-hell?" She panted out wildly, green eyes desperately peering into the water.

She must be going mad. Dehydration and exhaustion had led her to insanity, wonderful.

Marianne frowned at the reaction. Why had the human pulled away? Men didn't mind if their chests were touched. And this human's breasts were softer than hers, but also much, much smaller. They were so cute! Why be ashamed of people touching cute breasts like that? She moved around the human woman again and groped her once more, massaging her flesh. Softer and smaller. Ah, it was because her skin wasn't meant for the cold water! It was thinner and warm. Well, as warm as a half-drowned human's skin could be.

Deciding she had to meet the human officially, she went around and popped up in front of her, thick brown hair looking like waves of dark chocolate from the ocean water caught in the strands.

Alice flinched and jerked around again when she felt hands grope her breasts again. Before she could react completely though, a woman suddenly appeared in front of her in the water. She opened her mouth and shut it. Why would a woman be here? Unless.... Her mind slowly caught up with the situation and she realized there was only one thing she could be. A mermaid. She thought they were myths!

Marianne blinked as the human stared in shock and opened her mouth. She then reached out with slightly webbed fingers and opened Alice's mouth once more, peering inside. Blunt teeth? She poked them and her smooth tongue, frowning in confusion. How curious. She grinned at her, her own teeth much the same, except for the very tips, which were slightly pointed to make tearing flesh easier.

She put her hands beneath the woman's arms to hold her up, since she kept kicking her tail.

The mermaid was quite beautiful, she would admit, but stories of merfolk drowning humans for fun came to mind and she shuddered a bit. In her shock she didn't react much when the mermaid opened her mouth and poked her teeth. She did stare in awe as the other grinned revealing sharp teeth and then held her up by her arms.

Alice's mind was still trying to decide if this was real or a hallucination or not. She brought a shaky hand out of the water and briefly touched the other's cheek, flinching when it was solid.

"A-are you real?" She stammered aloud, half expecting to blink and the other to vanish.

Marianne blinked at her, and managed to look offended.

"Am I real?" she repeated in a heavily accented voice. She lifted her chin in the air. "Of course I am real! I know that a creature as beautiful as me must seem like a dream, but vraiment, I am as real as you are!"

She smirked, then released her, and swam around her. "And you seem real. You're weaker than women of my species. But then again you are not meant for swimming." She held her up again and bumped her tail against her legs. "These silly things get you nowhere! How are you supposed to swim? You kick like dogs."

Okay, they were a step up from dogs, but it was very strange to see humans attempt to tread water.

"What is a human like you doing out here? There is nothing for humans. Where are you from?" She got right in her face, peering into her bright green eyes.

"You are... English." She smiled, vain as ever. "You must be. I cannot be wrong."

Alice watched as the wo- no, mermaid spoke and swam around her with a confident if not arrogant attitude, still in shock. She blinked into her brown eyes as she was held again. She was still frightened, she wouldn't lie, but being held above water and resting her arms and legs was almost enough to make her cry. She jumped a little at the smooth tail that bumped against her legs and stared through the water in fascination. This was an actual mermaid!

Alice secretly always believed in magical creatures, it was a childish belief she knew, but she held onto it nonetheless. She looked back at the mermaids face and despite herself, the answer came tumbling out.

"I-I am English, yes... I was on a voyage to return to England... My ah, ship sunk... We were attacked... P-pirates killed most of the crew and took what they wanted. I managed to jump in the chaos." She mumbled to the mermaid, trying not to sound as pathetic and desperate as she must have looked.

Marianne let out a cry that might've sounded like she was going to eat the woman if she didn't grin and giggle and swim back, clapping her hands in delight.

"I knew I was right!" She returned to hold her up, tilting her head at her.

The light caught her eyes, and the brown that was so dark it was almost black turned deep blue in the light, as deep as the ocean itself.

"You look like a friend of mine in the English waters. Arthur is his name. He is a stubborn brat of a man, but he is delightful to tease!" She moved down and placed her ear against her chest. "But you are breathing strangely for a human! You have been in the water too long. I will take you to England!"

She flinched again at the noise but relaxed at the smile... She blushed a bit as the other moved her ear to her chest against her breasts and managed to push her head away. She processed the mermaid’s words a little bit before frowning.

Marianne smirked, seeming very proud of herself, and dropped her, then went behind her.

"Sit on my back and put your funny little human hands on my shoulders to hold on. We will go to England now!"

"Y-you are going to take me all the way to England? Pardon me miss, but we were at least half a days sail or more from the coast... That's a long way," she said before flushing and looking away. "A-and I hardly think that it would be appropriate for me to climb on your b-back..."

She hadn't said anything yet but now that she had processed the situation she realized that the hands groping her breasts earlier were not her imagination, but were in fact this strange mermaid in front of her. Her face turned a couple shades of darker pink at the thought, coupled with the fact that she had just realized the mermaid was naked from the waist up.

Marianne laughed, "Humans are so slow! You take so long to get anywhere on your great wooden houses! I can go much faster than your wooden houses."

Well okay, maybe she couldn't go much faster, but she could definitely get this human to the coast. Besides, she was much sweeter than the stupid men that always fell into the water. She didn't give her much choice, swimming between her legs and coming up so that Alice's thighs rested on either side of her waist.

"Just do not cover my ribs," she told her, taking her hand to brush along her gills. "I need those." She released her hand. "Come on, hold on, soft human. You will drown unless you allow me to help you." She looked back at her, and smiled widely. "Your face is warming up! That is good, oui?"

She blushed harder if that was possible when the woman swam between her legs and she gave a squeak in protest. Her eyes widened though in fascination as the other brought her hand along what she assumed were her gills. She knew she was right, she would drown without the mermaids help, it was honestly a miracle she hadn't already, plus the mermaid did seem to genuinely want to help her for whatever reason.

So careful of the others ribs, she wrapped her legs around her and her delicate arms around her shoulders. Ignoring the face warming comment out of sheer embarrassment, she nodded a little.

"Thank you very much for helping me..." She said graciously before remembering something. "Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Lady Alice Kirkland..."

"Alice Kirkland," she repeated, purring the 'r' in the Englishwoman's last name as the French always did. "I am Marianne Bonnefoy. It is spelled in human letters with a 'y' and so you English often make a mistake and say "Bon-foh-ee", but it is "Bon- _fwah_ "."

She shifted beneath her, and patted her arm.

"Loosen your hold unless you want to be swallowing water," she warned, and then dipped her head beneath the surface and tucked her arms behind herself.

She was still for a moment, merely floating there, figuring out which direction she was headed in, and then she took off, quickly building up speed. She really was faster than a ship, but she was showing off a little, and she would have to slow down in about an hour to catch her breath.

Alice repeated the name quietly to herself before obeying what the mermaid said and loosening her grip on the other. Alice blinked a little awkwardly as they were still for a while, Marianne beneath the water. She couldn't help but gasp a little in awe when they finally took off at the speed.

She looked back behind them at Marianne's tail and marveled at the strength and beauty of it as they were propelled through the water. She tightened her hold a little on Marianne's shoulders at they moved so fast for fear of falling off. The mermaid was much stronger than Alice could ever hope to be.

The mermaid was pretty proud of the strength of her tail. There wasn't much else to do but swim around and get stronger and faster, other than dive into the cold dark depths and discover new, strange creatures. For the record, anglerfish freaked her out. She swam for an hour or so before she tired herself out and had to slow down, still going pretty fast, but now her torso heaved beneath the human as she panted. In, out, in, out... Deep breathes.

She was going to need something to eat after this trip. Hopefully Arthur had some oysters. Scratch that, the bastard had oysters, hopefully he would share them, the stingy prick. Marianne paused, slowing to a stop, and lifted her head. She looked around, then changed their angle slightly.

"Don't want to end up in Wales," she murmured. She started off again, this time much slower as she caught her breath.

As they swam on, Alice noted the other was beginning to get tired. She could feel her panting beneath her and she felt guilty for putting the mermaid through this, and even more grateful for what she was doing. When they paused and Marianne rose her head out of the water and spoke, Alice was going to tell her they could rest, but they were soon off again, notably slower this time, but still faster than Alice could ever hope to swim. She loosened her hold slightly to make it easier on the mermaid before humming a sweet little tune to herself to pass the time.

Marianne stopped dead all of a sudden and straightened up so that she could speak.

"Alice, look! Look! A whale!" Sure enough, a humpback whale was swimming along not too far off, and Marianne clapped excitedly. "Oh, isn't she beautiful? Look, do you see her?" She pointed to the whale, and laughed. "Ah, if only she were easier to hold on to. She is so much faster."

Alice was surprised when they suddenly stopped in the water, and her eyes followed the mermaid’s direction and she looked in wonder as the whale breached the surface for air before gracefully swimming off. Alice smiled at the enthusiasm in the mermaids voice as they took off again. She was almost, dare she say, cute.

She started to swim again, humming her own little tune, but it seemed to match the singing of the humpback more than Alice's own voice. After about twenty minutes, she started to speed up again, having caught her breath.

She listened in peace as the other hummed below her. She thought about how she would thank Marianne when this was done. She could get money, but did mermaids use that? She shook her head. She would ask the other what she wanted when their journey was ended.

It was hours before they could even see the coast, and by then it was cold and dark, but Marianne still brought her to where she needed to be, pausing at one point to make sure that she was getting her to the right port. She was exhausted by the end of it, but she'd made it, and she was certainly going to go and pester Arthur for food, even if he was sleeping by that point.

"Bon," she remarked, lifting her head out of the water as they neared the docks, "we are here, in this human town that you call - oh!" She stopped and peered at someone on the docks, her thin brows raised in surprise.

She pointed at a blond man standing there speaking to someone, looking rather upset.

"He is beautiful. I should take him for Arthur. He likes it when I find him pretty things." She looked back at Alice. "Do you know him?" she wondered.

Ah... Wait. How was she supposed to get Alice onto the shore without being seen? Did she even have a proper explanation as to how she didn't die? She had not thought this through when she'd offered to bring the woman to England.

She almost cried in joy when her home port came into view. She was about to thank Marianne when both of their attentions were directed towards the dock. She squinted, that looked like... Alfred! She turned back to Marianne.

"No you are not allowed to take him, that's Alfred, my younger brother!" She chided Marianne. "I don't know what I'm going to tell him, he must be looking for me..." She shivered in the water a little but still managed to smile.

"Alfred?" she asked, blinking. She looked at the man again. "... Hmm. Odd. Some say that there is a human for every mermaid. And you do remind me of Arthur with those eyes of yours. And Alfred..." She narrowed her eyes at the man. "He looks like... Amelia. Yes, those eyes are just the same! Arthur's young sister."

She hummed but didn’t respond, distracted with what she was going to tell Alfred. Alice didn't think about how she would explain the situation, she just wanted to go home. She unwrapped herself from the mermaid, still holding onto to one of her shoulders though to keep afloat.

"I can swim from here, I'm assuming you do not want to be seen... Marianne, thank you for everything you've done for me... Please, tell me how I can repay you? Anything you want within my power and its yours..." Alice offered her genuinely.

She smiled at her, then looked back to Alfred. "Hmm... We mermaids have many pearls, but you have pretty stones. I want... I want a sapphire. If you can find me one. A sapphire that is as blue as the sea, and as pretty as my eyes."

She looked at her and bats her eyelashes, then moved closer and inspected her.

"I will give you pearls in return if the sapphire is difficult to attain." She moved forward and kissed her cheeks. "The humans from my home do this to say goodbye and hello. Give me kisses when you return to me! I will stay around the docks and wait for you."

She smiled, and then hugged her.

Alice nodded her head in understanding at Marianne's request for a sapphire. That shouldn't be too terribly difficult to find, her family had a fair amount of wealth, she could easily purchase one she was sure. Her cheeks heated up immediately when she was kissed and hugged. She tentatively hugged the woman back and despite herself she smiled a little.

"You are my friend now, oui? I've always wanted a human friend. And human women are so much cuter than smelly men."

"Of course we're friends," she murmured to the mermaid that saved her life, blushing again at being called cute.

She may not have enough boundaries for Alice’s comfort, and may have been French, but something drew Alice to Marianne.

Marianne released her, then looked to the docks.

"I will wait until you are out of the water in case you need help. Go now." She released her, and then dipped beneath the waves.

She nodded as Marianne disappeared before paddling weakly towards the dock.

"A-Alfred!" She called out when she was closer.

She saw her brother flinch and turn his head around and peer into the darkness, eyes widening.

"Alice! I thought you were dead!"

As she got closer she reached her hand up and he dropped to his knees and pulled her out of the water and held her while she shivered, freezing and exhausted. He took his coat off and wrapped it around her frame.

"We heard your ship sank! How did you survive?"

She looked towards the water a little bit and sighed.

"I-I'll tell you later, please can we just go home?" She asked him.

He opened his mouth like he was going to say something but thought better of it and nodded and picked her up, holding her bridal style and walking off the deck. Before they were gone though, Alice raised a hand towards the water before losing sight and closing her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Marianne watched the humans walk off, eyes narrowed. Brother, Alfred, like Amelia. And Alice, cute Alice with a tiny little chest, was like Arthur.

"Hmm," she hummed to herself, watching the humans as they went out of sight. "I wonder if there is someone like me..."

She grinned to herself. "They would be beautiful."

She wondered if she would ever get to meet them? Shrugging to herself, she swam off, going over to where she knew Arthur called home. She moved aside the flat rock that hid the underwater cave, humming to herself.

"Arthur!" she called. "Arthur, I've come to visit you! And I have an interesting story, too! Arthur? I'm hungry, do you have food to eat?"

She swam in further. Now where was that silly merman?

Arthur sighed in annoyance as he heard Marianne return. Marianne pestered him to no end, and yet the two were friends despite Arthur’s constant irritation towards her. He placed the seashells and pearls he had been arranging down and swam to the front of the cave.

"Hello, Marianne..." he said in a bored tone. "You know, you really should try to get your own food sometime, because honestly every time you visit, you attempt to eat me out of house and home."

He said folding his arms and giving her a disapproving look.

Marianne rolled her eyes at the man, and set her hands on her hips.

"Excuse you," she retorted, lifting her chin haughtily, "I just spent the last eight hours swimming from the middle of the Atlantic with a human on my back. I am tired and I am hungry and I'm not even home in French waters."

She eyed him for a moment, then grinned and swam at him, taking his hands and spinning him around.

"Oh, Arthur, she was _adorable!_ Her name was Alice and she was so helpless, nearly drowned when I found her! And she hummed most of the way and she was so impressed with me - " She paused and tapped his nose. "Something you could stand to learn, mon ami!"

She sauntered off, all high up on herself.

"And she's going to get me a sapphire, Arthur, a sapphire! All we can get are pearls..." She stretched herself out on a nice rock, flicking her tail lazily. "I can't wait to see her again. And her eyes, they were just like yours... And her brother, Alfred? He was pretty too. He looked like Amelia. You know," She pointed up. "Sky eyes."

Arthur listened to her ramble and raised an eyebrow, settling against a rock as well as she talked. He waved her hand away when she tapped his nose and made a disapproving noise.

"Really, Marianne, you shouldn't go around telling humans about you. Humans are dangerous you know, they don't know about our kind. Even if she promised you a sapphire, you have no way of knowing if she will deliver or not," he sniffed a little disapprovingly.

"You would have been better off letting her drown." He said as he inspected his nails. "Honestly Marianne, you are too quick to become infatuated..."

Marianne shook her head.

"Non, Arthur, she was... She was different." She turned over and set her chin on her arms. "She wasn't like the sailors that drown all the time. She wasn't rude or crass. She was... She was more reserved. You know how humans can be. But she was gentle and considerate. Poor helpless little thing..."

She sighed, "One human isn't going to hurt anything. And she will keep quiet, I'm sure. The other humans would lock her away if she started talking about things that, to them, aren't real." She closed her eyes and pouted. "You're such a downer, Arthur. And after how I exerted myself today... At least show a little compassion. It's not as though I don't bring you gifts when I come to visit."

She cracked an eye open and looked at him.

"If you found an interesting human, I would bet that you would be infatuated." She closed her eyes again. "Men are... Boring. And gross. But human women, if they're like her..." She sighed dreamily. "She will deliver. She offered to repay me, after all. I did save her life."

He snorted and folded his arms again.

"I most certainly would not become infatuated with a human, that’s not proper Marianne." He shook his head at the French mermaid in front of him. "Even if it sounds like this girl has manners, you French are so quick to fall in love, even though you know that it won't be returned..."

He unfolded his arms and swam over to grab a bag from the back of his cave and tossed it into her lap. Inside was his oyster supply.

"Well go on, have some food... Just try not to eat it all this time, yes?" He returned to his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "When are you going to see this human, Alice, again hm? Or did you not plan that yet?"

"I did not plan it. She was cold and her brother was worried. I do not know how long it takes to attain a sapphire."

She gave him a look when the bag landed on the top of her tail, and she turned and brought the bag to herself and opened it up. She smiled at the contents and pulled out an oyster, opening it with her nails and dumping the contents into her mouth. She hummed quietly and ate a few more, six at least, leaving a fair amount in the bag. Arthur was such a whiner.

"You never know. You've not met a human like her. Or maybe for you it will be a man?" She wrinkled her nose at him, and stuck out her tongue.

"Men." She huffed, then closed the bag and threw it back to him. "You do not know whether or not the love will be returned. And you English take so long to fall in love. By the time you realize it, the object of your affections has escaped..." She hummed. "What if I showed her to you? I'm sure you would agree that she is pretty."

She got up and went over to him.

"You must come with me tomorrow to the docks. I'll point her out to you if she returns."

He swam over and took the bag back, resealing it and returning it to its proper place. He blushed a little when she mentioned a human he would be involved with would be a man. Arthur had never been increasingly interested in anyone, but he knew he was attracted to men. Even though it was more accepted in the sea than it was on land it still embarrassed him. He rolled his eyes at her dig at the English.

"Don't be upset that some people like to take their time before jumping in head first to these things." He folded his arms annoyed and huffed again. "Fine, I will go with you to the dock, but only to make sure that you do not do anything stupid like get captured or killed."

He allowed finally as he looked up at her. She may be annoying but he did care about her and wanted to keep her safe.

Marianne hummed softly, repeating the little tune that Alice had been humming, and took the merman's hands again.

"And perhaps you will find a human there that you wish to risk a little trouble for," she teased, and pecked his cheek. "I am tired, though. It has been a long day."

Honestly, it felt like she could barely swim. Her muscles were aching. She ran her hands along her tail, and sighed through her nose.

"I am going to sleep. Tomorrow I will look for more pearls for you, and in the afternoon, I will bring you to the docks to see her." She smiled at him, then waved and went off into a little hole to sleep. "A bientot, cher, Arthur."

She paused, and poked her head back out.

"And do you know what her last name was?" She smirked. "Kirkland." She giggled and ducked away. "You're related to a human!"

Arthur snorted and rubbed his face a little after she kissed it.

"I highly doubt that..." He said in regards to finding a human who peaked his interests.

Humans were nothing but loud trouble and to be honest, the English merman wanted nothing to do with them. It was better for everyone that they keep their two world separate. He rolled his eyes again.

"Good night Marianne, and don't be ridiculous, its merely a coincidence..." He sniffed at her before deciding to head to sleep as well.

It was rather late and it was probably for the best that they both got some rest before the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Alice sighed as she sat in her nightgown by the fireplace in her room, a blanket wrapped around her, Alfred pacing in front of her.

"Alfred would you just bloody sit down! I already told you that I can't tell you how I made it back. Again, pirates attacked us and the ship sank. I swam to safety and made it back home," She said, exhausted from her ordeal and her brother’s questions.

Alfred frowned and folded his arms.

"And like I said, I'm going to kill those pirates... But Alice that doesn't make sense! You couldn't have swam that far..." He defended, folding his arms.

Alice stayed silent in response, looking into the fire. She didn’t want to betray Marianne’s trust but she didn’t like lying to her brother. Her thoughts however, were interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door.

"That should be Francis..." Alfred said, moving to answer the door.

"Bloody hell, why is the frog here?" She demanded of her brother.

Alfred smiled at her apologetically, “He was already staying here and when we got word about your ship I sent him out trying to get more information... You should be nicer, we've all known each other since we were children you know..."

Alfred chided her before opening the door.

Francis smiled at Alfred when he opened the door, and nodded to him. He caught sight of Alice and his eyes went wide, and he made his way over to her.

"Alice! You're all right! Oh, cherie, we were beside ourselves with worry!" He went down on one knee before her and held her cheek in his hand.

"Your skin is like ice," he murmured softly. "What happened? Your ship never showed up, and no one could figure out what had happened. Was it pirates? How did you get to shore?"

He glanced back at Alfred, and then to Alice once more.

"You must be starving, cherie. Have you eaten?" He looked to Alfred again. "Have you eaten? You've been so worried that I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot to."

Alfred folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"We've both eaten Francis. Pirates, like we thought, attacked her. As for how she got back, maybe you could help me figure it out. Miss Tightlipped over there refuses to tell me anything."

Francis frowned at Alfred, and then looked back at Alice.

"What is she telling you?" he wondered. He placed a hand on her head and smiled, ruffling her hair a bit. "She swam on the back of a dolphin?"

Alfred snorted but Alice ignored him and swatted his hand off her hair.

"It doesn't matter like I said!" She huffed and then muttered quietly, "You wouldn't believe me anyway."

He frowned, though. "Why didn't we see your ship, cherie? We should have seen it if it was close enough that you made it to shore without a boat or anything."

Alice shivered and Francis realized the sapphire pinky ring on the Frenchman's hand was cold against the woman's cheek. He pulled his hand away.

"Sorry. Oh, Alice, I'm so happy that you're safe. You look exhausted..."

Alice waved Francis away and huffed. She tsked and addressed the two men.

"Look, like I said it doesn't matter... I'm back, lets just leave it alone, okay?"

That’s when Alice's eyes landed on Francis's ring and Marianne's words rang in her head.

"I'm fine Francis, but I need a favor... I need to borrow your sapphire ring. Well, I need to have your ring, less so borrow it," she murmured.

He blinked at her request, and looked at his ring.

"You... You want to _have_ it?" he wondered curiously, and tilted his head at her. "What do you need it so urgently for?"

He slid the ring off of his finger and looked at it.

"It would fit one of your fingers, I'm sure, but wouldn't you rather get one yourself? An emerald, perhaps?"

She shook her head and stood up, notably smaller than the other two men.

"Look, I just need that sapphire, alright?" She said. "I ah, well I owe someone a favor and they wanted a stone like that okay? Francis I can pay you for it, or trade you one of my rings?" She asked him.

She had the means to get the sapphire on her own, but it would take time and… She wanted to get back to Marianne as soon as possible. The French mermaid may have been a tad handsy, but she found she had a strong desire to see her again.

Alfred furrowed his brow and walked closer to the two of them.

"Whom would you owe a sapphire ring to?" He asked, but Alice just shook her head dismissively and looked back up at Francis.

Francis stood and crossed his arms, considering the ring. It wasn't like it was a family heirloom or something; he'd just gotten it as a gift from an aunt and liked the color of it. It matched his eyes. He raised his brows at the girl.

"Yes," he replied with a small smile. "You will pay me for it. Pay me with your company tomorrow. I want to know what it is that I apparently will not believe if you told me."

He took one of her hands and placed the ring in her palm, and folded her fingers over it. He kissed her knuckles gently.

"Now, however, I believe that it is time that we all got some sleep. It has been a long day for all of us, and you, cherie, need your rest, before you catch a cold."

She relaxed when he gave her the ring but was still tense when he wanted to know about how she returned. Alfred watched this and stepped in too.

"Hey, I want to know too! I'm your brother after all!" He said pouting adorably and Alice couldn't help but lift the corners of her mouth into a small smile.

She sighed and folded her arms.

"Alright, fine. I will tell you, tell you both over breakfast tomorrow... For now I agree with Francis," here she shuddered a little at the thought. "Sleep does sound like an excellent idea."

Alfred sighed, impatient to here the story but nodded and kissed his sister's forehead.

"Alright, see you at breakfast..." He conceded as he and Francis left the room.

Alice sighed and gripped the ring tightly to her chest. She wasn’t sure how tomorrow would go, but she was so tired she didn’t care. She climbed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Francis woke before the siblings and made breakfast for them. The English ate an abominable amount in the mornings. Eggs, toast, beans, tomatoes... It was enough to turn his stomach. But Alfred ate enough to feed a small army at the best of times, and Francis was fine with just eating a slice of toast first thing after waking up.

A servant had roused both Alfred and Alice to the world of the living. While Alfred sleepily got himself ready for the day, Alice required the aid of a maid to help lace her corset and pull on her complicated dress. Once complete she needed to fix her hair and wash her face.

By the time she was finished, Alfred was only just now done getting dressed. She came into his room to find him sleeping again and she had to drag him fully dressed out of his bed with the promise of food.

Alfred grinned and followed his sister down the hall. He loved when Francis was over because he always made the best food, despite him and Alice occasionally being at each other’s throats.

Francis perked up when he heard someone down the hall, and sent the servant that had helped him cook and bring everything up back down to the kitchen. He smiled softly at the siblings.

"Good morning," he greeted them.

"Morning!" Alfred cheerfully replied to Francis as he pulled Alice's chair out for her.

"Good morning," Alice said sitting carefully at the table.

Alfred sat as well and began to wolf down the food.

" 'S great as a'ways, Fancis!" He said through his full mouth while Alice swatted him on the head.

"Manners," she reminded him as she calmly ate her own meal.

Francis took his napkin and wiped the food that Alfred had accidentally spat at him from his cheek.

"Thank you for your flattery, Alfred, as always," he replied, and ate his small bowl of oatmeal calmly. He glanced at Alice, a little excited to hear what it was that she had to tell them.

"So," he began, digging a hole in the middle of his meal to let the milk pool there. "Alice, I do believe you had a story to tell us over breakfast."

He looked to her and gave a pout.

"You promised, after all." He took a small bite of his food and waited patiently. "How ever did you get to the docks last night?"

She paused and finished chewing before swallowing and placing her fork down. Alfred looked at her with interest as well. She sighed and smiled to the two servants in the room.

"If you two could give us a moment, we will call when we need you, thank you..." The servants bowed and exited the room and Alice turned serious and looked at the two men. "I am going to tell you something and I'm sure you won't believe me, but you have to promise to not tell another living soul, no one outside of this room, do you understand?"

Alfred swallowed at the change of attitude, sensing the serious atmosphere, and nodded.

"I promise," he said.

Alice looked to Francis and raised an eyebrow.

Francis raised a brow at the woman, and sat back, tracing an X over his heart.

"I swear," he assured her, and then sat forward once more, tucking himself into the table.

He really wanted to know what it was that was so important that he not tell anyone. Had Alice been taken by the pirates and dumped just offshore so that she could swim back and the pirates wouldn't be captured and tried for their crimes? That would certainly be an interesting story. Or maybe the King himself had found her and helped her and wanted to see her again. He wouldn't want the servants to hear about that, either.

She nodded and sighed.

"What I said was true, we were attacked by pirates. In the confusion and the chaos I jumped ship, better than being captured by those sorts of men," she said shuddering briefly.

"I swam away, and was left behind, treading water. It was all I could do to stay afloat. Well after a few hours I ah, felt something touch me," she explained, tactfully leaving out where she was touched, blushing a little.

"This woman appeared in front of me, and saved me. Her name is Marianne, and she's a mermaid. She swam me back to England and when I asked what I could do to repay her, she said she wanted a sapphire. I agreed to meet her again..." Alice trailed off looking down at her plate, afraid of what reaction the men would have.

Alfred looked shocked at his sister. A… Mermaid? The story was ridiculous, but he had never known his sister to lie before. He glanced at Francis, to gage his reaction.

Francis' initial reaction was to laugh at the ridiculousness of the story, but with how serious the atmosphere in the room, was, he swallowed the laughter down before it could surface. He cleared his throat and looked at Alfred, then back to Alice. He then looked back to Alfred and sputtered.

"Well don't look at me! I don't know what to do with this information!"

Seeing is believing and all that, and they really didn't have any idea how Alice had gotten back to shore when it would probably have taken a few days' worth of swimming to reach the shore, but really? Mermaids?

"You're seeing her again?" he then asked softly. "Where?"

Alice shrugged and hesitantly looked back up at the men.

"I'm not sure... I'll probably try the dock where she brought me and Alfred found me..."

Alfred shook his head a little.

"Alice, seriously though... Mermaids? I mean I know you've always liked these stories and stuff, but ah...." He trailed off.

His sister wasn't a liar he knew that.

"Are you sure it was a mermaid?" He asked her.

Her cheeks heated up a little indignantly.

"Yes Alfred, I'm bloody well sure!"

Alfred glanced back at Francis before sighing and smiling.

"Well, I'm coming with you, I can't let you go see a fish person alone! What if something happens?" He asked, folding his arms.

Alice shook her head, "Nothing will happen, you really don't have to come Alfred..."

He shook his head too, "Too late Alice, I'm coming and you can't stop me. Plus I should probably meet the one who saved your life..."

Francis nodded. "I am coming, as well," he told her. "I want to see this mermaid for myself, especially if she is taking one of my rings as payment."

He really just wanted to see if this was all true. It was pretty ridiculous. A mermaid. Something else had probably happened and Alice had just been hallucinating from sun exposure and dehydration. That way she wasn't lying because that was what she had seen, but it hadn't actually been a mermaid. That explained it. He smiled at her.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, I'm sure. And if it is a mermaid as you say, then... Well then I would like to see for myself."

Alice frowned a little in thought. She wasn't sure if Marianne would be alright with her bringing people, but she had to understand her brother and Francis. He may be a twit, but they had known each other since they were children and were friends, though she hated admitting it. She sighed and nodded.

"Alright, we will go after breakfast," she conceded, taking another bite of breakfast.

She knew that they probably still didn't believe her but they hadn't outright called her crazy or laughed in her face, so that was better than she could have hoped. She just hoped Marianne would actually be there. In her heart of hearts she wanted to see the beautiful mermaid again.

Francis finished off his breakfast while chatting with Alfred, and then called the servants in to clear their dishes. He excused himself to go and change, since he smelled like the kitchens, and then he met them to go down to the docks to see what all this 'mermaid' business was about.


End file.
